SteelSeries gaming products are top-rated among gamers across the globe. Perhaps, it has to do with the build quality, audio performance, or aggressive pricing. In today’s comparison review, we will be dealing with SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9 gaming headsets.
The SteelSeries 7 unit was extremely popular when it was released in the market in 2018. This gaming wireless product did exceptionally well, that the maker decided to go an update. SteelSeries came out with the 7P model a few years later.
The 7P is quite similar to the design and looks of the 7 unit. In the gaming headset industry, looks don’t decide the product; it is the audio quality. We hope that the new model does way better than the previous unit.
Gamers can work seamlessly on the gaming consoles like the PS4. The units are quite nicely built and designed. They are comfortable to wear for long hours without worrying too much about the period.
It also comes with low latency, and the boom microphone is one-of-a-kind. We were pretty shocked by the voice recording quality. The unit comes with 24 hours battery working life, and it also comes with an auto-off timer for power consumption.
Its sound profile is prone to inconsistent bass and treble delivery. You can make use of the companion software to use the graphic EQ and presets. However, you can consider using the under $300 LucidSound LS50X or $400 Bose QuietComfort 35 II gaming headset.
Likewise, we have the Arctis 9 unit that is the successor of the SteelSeries Arctis 9X headset. The major flaw in the Arctis 9X model was that it could work only on the Xbox console. This did not work down well among PS5 users and PC gamers.
Thanks to the 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, you can work flawlessly on your PC and PS5. It also comes with Bluetooth for speaking efficiently and listening to music on the go. Before we forget, the construction is stupendous, comfort is exceptional, and the headband is ski-goggle.
Our tester felt that the design of the Arctis 9 unit is on par with more expensive models priced above $200 in the market. Do the SteelSeries gaming headsets deliver the goods for the price that they are quoted?
 |  |
|---|---|
| ARCTIS 7P | ARCTIS 9 |
| PROS | PROS |
| The product has a sleek and elegant design. The unit is quite durable. The headset has graphic EQ plus presets. Its USB-C dongle brings wide compatibility. It comes with exceptional battery life. | The headset comes with a very comfortable fitting. The unit has a barrage of EQ settings. It sounds quite astounding when tuning. It offers users a lossless wireless experience. The product has a lengthy working battery life. |
| CONS | CONS |
| It comes with no surround sound on the PC. | The headset requires immense tuning for quality sound. |
| SPECIFICATIONS | ARCTIS 7P | ARCTIS 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Arctis 7P Wireless – Lossless 2.4 GHz Wireless Gaming Headset | SteelSeries – Arctis 9 Wireless Gaming Headset |
| Brand | SteelSeries | SteelSeries |
| Connection Type | Wireless | Wireless |
| Wireless Connectivity | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
| True Wireless | Yes | Yes |
| Headphone Fit | Over-the-Ear | Over-the-Ear |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Design & Comfort
The SteelSeries Arctis 7P gaming headset is a lot similar in design to the Arctis 9 wireless gaming headset. You can find the headset having a sleek and ski-headband design. These are feature traits of most of the SteelSeries gaming headsets.
It also comes with a retractable boom microphone. You can find the unit in two fantastic colors of the black and white. Our tester thought that the white headset was exceptional in color and design.
The features stood out nicely. You can effortlessly see the blue detailing in the plastic headband. They are also present in the earcups. It is similar to the PS5 design. Anyways, they are sturdy and comfortable headsets to wear for an extended period of time.
Our tester did not feel any discomfort whatsoever. Yes, they come slightly on the heavier side. But we noticed that the earcups come with ample motion to adjust nicely to your head. This is a notable feature that is often lacking in many gaming headsets.
The padding on the headband feels quite soft and lustrous. If you have a large head, then the fitting might be on the tighter side. Besides that, this is a glorious headset that gamers must try on during their gaming sessions.
The Arctis 9 has a ski-goggle headband and is oval. They come large and look quite familiar to those of you who have seen and used SteelSeries products. The design slide and the textures are quite on par with most of the product lineup.
It is slightly understated than the Arctis 7P, which is more elegant in design. Gamers may feel that this unit provides you with excellent versatility. In this sense, the aggressive design is appealing both in front of the PC and the PS4.
You do not require to make use of the gamer design and the all-black tone. We have never been a fan of that anyways. Its earcups come nicely padded and with a matte surface. Besides, the cloth headband is slim and comes with white accents.
When you want to use RGB lighting, you may not be able to do it here. You can find the LED indicator on the right earcup that blinks if you connect it wirelessly. You will be delighted to know that besides the Arctis 7P, you can also use Bluetooth.
You can do so to get audio from a smartphone without using the dongle on the Arctis 9 wireless unit. Overall, the design of both the SteelSeries Arctis 7P and the Arctis 9 headsets was good. Users can wear them for long hours for gaming or chatting without issues.
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Build Quality
The SteelSeries have always managed to do well in one aspect of features, the build quality. The SteelSeries 7P unit comes with the exceptional build quality. Its body is produced from plastic, and there is fabric padding present with an elastic ski-band headband.
Our tester felt that they could easily withstand few falls. The hinges and yokes, at times, do feel a bit rigid. It is as if they can snap any moment. The gaming headset comes with exceptional stability.
As they are the wireless headset, you can wear them on the go. However, we would advise brisk exercising; otherwise, they will fall out. The sidetone and volume wheel are present, coming with minimum/maximum stops, mute microphone button, and power button.
Using the power button, you can use it as a playback function. You can press it once, and you can either answer or end the call. You can also play music with it. A notable feature here is that if you double press it, the track is skipped, and pressing it three times, will get you back to the earlier track.
The mute microphone button comes with ample audio feedback. It also comes with an LED lighting that becomes red when you mute it. The build quality of the Arctis 7P unit may cause some inconsistency in the audio performance.
This entirely depends on how you wear the gaming headset. Besides, the sound profile can be tweaked if you want to use SteelSeries Engine companion software. The other model, Arctis 9 weighs at 13.4 ounces, making it a pretty robust unit.
However, when you hold it, you feel it lighter than that. That is because of the ski-goggle strap coming with it. This enables you to hold it without causing the metal headband to press down at the head.
You can find a fastener of the ski-goggle strap offering a minimal amount of adjusting the size. However, if you have a large head, then it should be a problem. The earcups are oval in shape and come padded nicely.
They are covered with breathable and soft fabric. Since you are using a large size, you are not troubled by your ear getting pinched on the model. It is exceptionally comfortable, and the large-sized earcups can fit in your ears without any problem.
All in all, the build quality of the gaming headsets is impressive. This thing is what was expected from SteelSeries. The Arctis 7P and the Arctis 9 gaming headsets come with a reliable build functionality that enables you to use them for several years without worry.
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Audio Performance
The audio performance of both SteelSeries Arctis 7P and Arctis 9 was a close one. Read on to find out how they did. The Arctis 7P gaming headset audio quality was quite good and offered a fantastic gaming experience.
Some games, where you need to have your headphone on for a long time, it managed to do a decent job. This model is not mainly meant for a PC. It was designed for the PS5 and gaming consoles.
It comes with a spatial audio system that sounds exceptionally well on most of the consoles and your PC. The model offered an excellent stereo gaming experience. It sounds superb for a gaming headset and comes with a notable boost of 100Hz.
The music aspect, too, did not disappoint one bit either. You can play any music that you prefer using the headset without missing any beat. We liked the mild pop compared to the rock and other music genres on the Arctis 7P model.
The Arctis 9 was put through a test on several games. We tried it on the PC, PS4, and eventually on the smartphone. We must say that we were quite impressed with what we heard. The games played were Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Star Trek Online, and Doom.
As you can see, these games are already quite loud and boom effects. All you need is a powerful unit that can do justice to the game. The noise was quite effective because gamers can get a feeling from where it is coming from.
This is what professional users look for. We found it weird because it worked sublimely on the Nintendo Switch in a docked mode without any issues. We did not feel much difference from the Arctis 7P, which sort of ruined our experience in this comparison review.
There was hardly any difference in the sound quality and performance. Both the gaming headsets almost performed equally. But when you make use of the Pro X, you can instantly feel the lack in-depth on the Arctis 9.
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Microphone Performance
The SteelSeries Arctis 7P has a good microphone that can be blended with a gaming headset. Our tester felt that it did not come with too many unique elements. You can instantly notice that there is a massive drop in the mid-range audio performance.
If you hold the microphone too close to your mouth, then it may affect the bass notes. Additionally, it can make your voice sound a little differently, along with the breathing noise. It was not that annoying or something that you want to worry about.
The voice and clarity are just there, and if you have a deep voice, then it may sound distorted. Similar to the Arctis 7, the Arctis 9 unit comes with a powerful microphone. We were quite happy using it when gaming and chatting.
The Arctis 7 is priced under $150, but the Arctis 9 costs under $200 on most online retailers. Thankfully, the SteelSeries Arctis 1 unit for Xbox consoles has resolved the dongle issue. Anyways, the recording quality of the unit was stunning.
You could hear your voice naturally and crisp. This is something that we rarely find in most of gaming headsets. In this sense, the voice came without any distortion. The noise handling of the microphone was quite astounding.
Those talking can hear you loud and clear despite you being in a noisy environment. However, our tester thought that the efficiency of the microphone on the Logitech G Pro X was slightly better than the model.
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Compatibility
The SteelSeries Arcis 7P comes with incredible app support. You can use them on the devices of your liking with the help of the fantastic SteelSeries engine software. The model comes with the graphic EQ and presets.
Our tester liked the fact that you can change the length of the auto-off timer. Would you please do see to that the surround sound support comes with the PS5? Sadly, they are not compatible with Bluetooth.
They come with fabulous non-Bluetooth wireless connectivity. If you use the USB dongle, you do not have latency on your smartphone or PC. It is the same with the PS5. The model is suitable for gaming.
It comes with few cables like the USB and 1/8″ TRRS analog cable. You can make use of them for passive audio playback and microphone usage. The headset comes with a USB extension to use one dongle and a micro-USB charging cable.
The unit can be used on your Xbox One console with the 1/8″ TRRS cable. You can make use of the audio and microphone support. However, when you want a SteelSeries model infused with the non-Bluetooth wireless function on the Xbox One, you need to use the Arctis 7X.
We found the Bluetooth function of the SteelSeries Arctis 9 effortless. You cannot make use of them on several devices, but you can connect on your PC. The latency on the android and the iOS devices is low for using them to listen to audio.
We played the COD and Fortnite on the PC. It came out well. Using the 7.1 surround sound, you could hear things quite easily. The sound effects take time for you to get used to initially. The gaming audio quality was splendid.
You will be delighted to know that the Arctis 9 wireless headset can effortlessly connect using the PS4 and the PC. You can also work on the Nintendo Switch if you want. Besides operating on smartphones seamlessly, you can also make use of the 3.5mm audio cable on the console of Xbox One and Switch (handheld).
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Price
In most comparison reviews, it finally comes down to the price of the wireless gaming headsets. However, that is not the case here. The SteelSeries Arctis 7P gaming headset is priced under $138.
Our tester was quite satisfied with the price because it comes with stunning features in it. The SteelSeries Arctis 9 gaming headset is priced under $138. Our tester felt the same about the wireless gaming headset.
SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9: Verdict
We have reached the end of our comparison review between the SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9 gaming headsets. It is always a close call between two gaming headsets of the same brand. The Arctis 7P unit comes with exceptional features in it.
It is a great headset that is also highly comfortable to use. We also liked the way the gaming unit sounded for both gaming as well as music. The unit is working on most platforms stupendously.
The battery’s working life is good, and it comes priced adequately. When looking for a futuristic model in the market, you may want to consider using the Arctis 7P unit. We can assure you that you will be hard-pressed to find something better than the SteelSeries Arctis 7P.
Likewise, the Arctis 9 gaming headset justifies the price that it comes for with the help of dual wireless connectivity. The unit also comes with a dynamic sound performance for you to listen to music and play games.
Our winner in today’s comparison review between the SteelSeries Arctis 7P vs Arctis 9 gaming headsets is the Arctis 7P. We felt that the sound quality sounded much better on the Arctis 7P unit than the Arctis 9 model.
Besides, these are wireless models, and you may want to keep an eye on the battery life. The Arctis 7P unit comes with better battery life. You can make use of the passive playback and less latency using non-Bluetooth wireless.
James Smith has always been intrigued by electronic products since his childhood. After his post graduation in electronics from a popular university, he decided to pursue a career in the electronics sector. But his calling for writing about these marvellous pieces of work got the better of him. That is how UBG was started. With a writing career spanning more than 12 years, James has worked on several hundred product reviews. During his free time, he like to spend time with his pet dog and relax in the swimming pool.